My March Challenge

As it turns out, I'm still sick. It is time to admit that this really bad cold might just have been a flu. I'm still having some intense coughing fits and plenty of snot. I am also fairly run down. Awesome.

That made moving into the new apartment this weekend much more challenging. The short story is, as of about 7:30 pm Sunday night, all of our boxes were out of the cabin and into the apartment. Look for a post on the apartment later this week.

Of course, that meant that I had no time for other fun, and so my four free things will have to wait for another weekend. It is fun to think about all of the free or nearly free ways to entertain ourselves though, isn't it?

Today's post is about something a little different - breaking bad habits and creating good ones. I have loads of habits I would like to break ... Too much time on the Internet, hopping in the car for a trip that should be done on foot or bike, my reliance on expensive canned beans instead of making them affordably from scratch. My bad habits are often bad for my health, bad for our budget, and bad for the planet, but I've succumbed to their convenience. The problem is that I often try to change them all at once, get overwhelmed, have an early setback, and then give up on all of them. So I've decided to try a different tactic. Each month, I will give myself an attainable challenge. Since it takes doing something many times to form a habit, I'm hoping that these one month challenges will help me change my old ways.

This month, I am challenging myself to take alternative transportation to work every day. This will most often be by bike (an estimated 15 minutes) but could also include walking (an estimated 40 minutes) or taking the transit bus. As I'm starting out this challenge with compromised health, I will give myself 3 free passes to drive if I need them. Expected outcomes include increased daily exercise, savings in fuel cost, savings in parking cost, reducing my carbon footprint, and breaking the habit of hopping into the car for every transportation need. I'll be updating you weekly on my challenge, so check back next Monday to hear how it is going!

Tell me - how will you challenge yourself this month?